Where we differ: Palm Beach's top 2014 prospects

The Palm Beach Post put out their Top 50 players in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast today, and it provides yet another conversation piece in the overly ambiguous world of college football recruiting.

It’s an excellent list. As someone who put a lot of hours into my own list, I can recognize when the same is done elsewhere, and that’s the case with the Post’s.

At a certain point with any list, subjectivity comes into play. I’d like to think that such subjectivity is used as a last-ditch tiebreaker between players, but that’s not always the case.

For instance, I like taller receivers over a shorter, speedier players. And while production and skill are the main merits behind the rankings, I can’t deny that my bias toward’s taller wide receivers has manifested itself in the rankings I’ve been in charge of. I don’t try to compensate in an effort to “even it out” though. That’s the way it is. I’d like to think that bias was founded from my conversations with college coaches — but who knows where it truly comes from.

My goal with this is not to demean the Palm Beach Post’s product, only to point out the main differences Jeff Greer and Matt Porter’s Top 50 list has with mine. I’m not terribly familiar with their methodology, because, I imagine it’s like mine, which is not totally quantifiable.

And when you get into unquantifiable things, well, that’s where debate comes into play. It’s my hope that being transparent in my reasoning behind my rankings helps make that debate more civil and better educated. Furthermore, I’m going to pass on explaining why I have players ranked lower than the Post, because I don’t want to bring down those players primarily pointing out flaws. I’m happy to answer email on that subject, if you need to know my reasoning, but I don’t feel this infinitely transferable medium is the proper venue to vet 18-year-old football players.

Perhaps the difference is negligible, but to me, Boone is the top defensive back in Palm Beach County in 2014. He’s a ferocious hitter with excellent hips and a keen football sense. Many schools are high on safeties that are six-foot-two or taller now. Boone isn’t that, but if I was recruiting Palm Beach County, I would have him atop my safety list because, just like height, you also can’t teach the acumen he displays on the field.

Adly Enoicy - WR - AtlanticSun Sentinel: 3 PBP: 9

Enoicy is a hit or miss player. He hits with me. I know for a fact that he doesn’t resonate with the Post. I’m taking the bigger risk (if there is any risk in this) by ranking him higher. When Enoicy is “on” he’s as good as any player in the state at the wide receiver position — up with Ermon Lane of Homestead and Dwyer’s Johnny Dixon.

Enoicy is rarely “on” though, and perhaps it’s wishful thinking to think that his senior season is a put-up or shut-up season for him. But I think it is, and on raw talent alone, I put Enoicy at No. 3.

Alon Sims - OLB - Royal PalmBeachSun Sentinel: 7 PBP: 24

A college coach recently called me and said that Alon Sims isn’t going to pull any more offers than the one he currently has from FAU because of his weight. At 175 pounds (if that) it’s nearly impossible to disagree with him.

But anytime weight becomes an issue, I think back to a day at Miramar, when Georgia secondary coach Scott Latakos told me “there’s not a college coach in the country that doesn’t think he can put at least 25 pounds of muscle on any player.” To this day, I haven’t run across a coach who has proved Latakos wrong.

Alon Sims is a project, there’s no doubt, but I think he’s a project worth taking. That’s why I ranked him No. 7 in Palm Beach County.

Zeke Edmonds - OLB - Royal Palm BeachSun Sentinel: 16 PBP: 50

Zeke Edmonds reminds me a lot of Ft. Lauderdale linebacker Jaboree Williams, who I have been extremely high on since I saw him at the Nike Miami combine this spring.

Like Williams, Edmonds isn’t a prototypical sized linebacker, but he, like his southern doppelganger, plays with tremendous heart and possess a better-than-average nose for the football. Add in his exceptional speed and you have a top-level prospect.

While Edmonds isn’t as big of a project as Sims in the weight department, he does need to bulk up to play linebacker at a Division 1 level. My takeaway from every conversation I’ve had with him is that he’s a person that can handle that responsibility.

Caruso is the top quarterback on both papers' lists, and that’s the most important thing. Beyond that, it gets into pettiness, and there’s no time for pettiness when there are real issues to discuss.

The reason I bring up Caruso isn’t to bring down the player, it’s merely to point out how hit-or-miss quarterback evaluations are. When you’re breaking down a recruiting ranking, you almost have to take the quarterbacks out of the list and rate them only amongst themselves.